The mountain lion found roaming near Harrah's plaza on Friday morning. NDOW tranquilized the animal under the stage at Harrah's plaza. / Courtesy of Reno Police Sgt. Michael Browett

Written by

Pete Krajewski and Emerson Marcus

Reno Gazette-Journal

The scene under the Reno arch Friday morning as Reno police closed off a portion of Virginia Street after a mountain lion was round roaming near Harrah's plaza. / Emerson Marcus / RGJ

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8:50 a.m. update: A 2-year-old male mountain lion that ended up in downtown Reno by Harrah’s on Virginia Street most likely traveled there along the Truckee River corridor before wandering north, a Nevada Department of Wildlife specialist said.

The mountain lion will be released this afternoon pending disease checks and how he recovers from tranquilization, NDOW said.

“Once that tranquilizer wears off, which tends to happen fast with a mountain lion, we are going release him this afternoon, as long as it comes out of anesthesia well and has no disease issues,” NDOW Conservation and Education Chief Teresa Moiola said. “It appears on the surface to look healthy.”

Moiola said the mountain lion probably traveled north after following the river to downtown Reno where police found him at about 5:15 a.m. Friday. The cat was estimated at 90 to 100 pounds.

Officers arriving at the scene found the animal and cornered it under the stage located on the plaza, Reno Police Sgt. Scott Shaw said. NDOW was called to the scene and the animal was tranquilized, Shaw said. The mountain lion was then transported to the NDOW Carson City field office.

“The age of the animal tells us it’s at a normal dispersal age,” Moiola said. “It is normal for them at this age to be striking out alone.”

— Emerson Marcus, RGJ

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Friday morning update: Reno police were called to the Harrah's plaza at around 5:15 a.m. this morning on reports that a mountain lion was seen in the area.

Officers arriving at the scene found the animal and cornered it under the stage located on the plaza, Reno Police Sgt. Scott Shaw said. The Nevada Dept. of Wildlife was called to the scene and the animal was tranquilized, Shaw said.

Officers closed Virginia Street between 2nd Street and Commercial Row while they worked to capture the mountain lion, Shaw said.

"From what I understand, it was a pretty large cat," Shaw said. He estimated it's size at around 90-100 pounds.

Shaw says wildlife officials planned to tag the animal and check its health before releasing it back into the wild.

Chris Healy, public Information officer at NDOW, said officials are transporting the mountain lion to Carson City, where it will be processed by a researcher. It will then have a radio collar attached and will be released back into the wild later today if it is healthy—which Healy said it appears to be.